Utah Wins Sugar Bowl

The Utah Utes, a non-BCS conference school, has won the Allstate Sugar Bowl by defeating SEC power Alabama Crimson Tide 31-17 in the New Orleans Superdome. Utah came into the game undefeated at 12-0, while Alabama was coming in off of a loss in the SEC Championship game to Florida Gators. Alabama was ranked #1 for most of the season, but lost that spot when they lost to the Gators. In a season that had a couple of non-BCS conference schools who may have deserved a BCS game, the Utes clearly proved to the country that they belonged in a BCS game.

Utes quarterback Brian Johnson threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns, easily winning the game's most outstanding player. The Utes jumped on top of the Crimson Tide early, jumping out to a 21-0 lead. The Crimson Tide were never able to recover. Crimson Tide quarterback John Parker Wilson was not effective, only throwing one touchdown pass while throwing two interceptions. Their running game wasn't effective as it has been all year as well. Glen Coffee only had 36 yards rushing while Mark Ingram had 28 yards.

A big part of the reason for their bad running game today may have been attributed to the suspension of their best offensive linemen. Left tackle Andre Smith was suspended for the game. The reasons for his suspension is not immediately clear but there has been speculation that he was dealing with an agent. Many people believe that Smith will be a high first-round draft pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

I believe Alabama is a better football team than Utah. The struggles for Alabama came from John Parker Wilson and running backs Glen Coffee and Mark Ingram. Therefore, I believe Alabama lost for one reason. They lost because of the absence of Andre Smith. I believe, with Smith in the game, that Alabama would've won it in a close one. However, with their best player being of the offensive line, they were not able to protect or run block as effectively as it could've been had he been there.